The Nutcracker: The Return Of The Mouse King
by Stephanie Nova Rose Allen
Summary: It has been 2 years since they've defeated the Mouse King once and for all and they were living peacefully, until he returned, without any explanations. He kidnapped the female and placed the same curse on the man, cursing him into a doll for all eternity. Now, Stephanie is back in action to rescue the day for the Prince of the Dolls!
1. The Strange Gift

Stephanie slowly opened her steel blue eyes from her slumber. How long has she been asleep? She groaned slightly and stretched out slightly, before sitting up on the bed and also noticed that she is in a different bed, then the bedstead she was in back at home. She looked at her surroundings and noticed that her room was also different. Her room was neat and tidy with her cleaning habits, but this room she is mysteriously inside was different. The room she inside has a mirror in front of the bed and a table by a closed window. The bed she was in looked like it was from the 18th century and the whole room smelled musty. She heard a creak and glanced at the door and the door that is strangely and mysteriously creaked open by nothing behind it. She was quiet for a moment, thinking who opened the door and felt suspicious about what have unlocked the door, until she just shrugged at her thoughts and pulled the blankets off her body, revealing her long, silver, skinny, metal legs, covered by her snowy and decorated pants with pink butterflies, except her feet that are covered with black with white spots, fuzzy socks, and a pink nightshirt with kitten decorations decorated all over it, that reaches down to her waist, making it looks like a mini skirt, and her long hazelnut brown hair, with varieties of unique colored wires on the left side of her head, up in a low braid, with a rainbow rubber band at the end to keep the binding from undoing. Around her neck was a grey chain necklace with a gold heart-shaped pendant and clipped to the sides of her ears were silver ear cuffs in a shape of a Celtic knot.

She rose up from the bed and gingerly stretched out her spine, to get comfortable to walk around the mysterious place that she is mysteriously inside. After she had stretched, she placed her right foot down on the ground first, and then her left and gingerly got up from the bed, still waking up slowly. She fully opened the ajarred door and realized the door has with gold decorations, and the doorknob was gold with beautiful metal decorations, that have been polished for many, many times. But it feels like it wasn't used for a long time and the gold is slowly fading away as the time passes. Stephanie got curious about the place, so she fully exited the door and look down the medium length dark hallway, decorated with red wallpaper with decorations of gold and white flowers. Stephanie thought to herself for a second, until she reached into her pajama pants pockets and after a moment of ruffling inside, she grasped something inside her pocket and slowly pulled out a jar, filled with clear liquid inside from her right hand and when she gazed at the water, she shook the jar in a swirling motion and then, the water inside started to glow in a white color, and when it brightens enough, she used the glowing as a glow stick, and started to walk down the dark and mysterious hallway, looking cautious and alert for any attacks or monsters. As she strode down the hallway, she glanced at the walls and noticed that there used to be many, many pictures on the walls from a rich family year ago, before Stephanie was here in the beginning. She kept on to walk down the bleak and gloomy feeling dark hallway as the jar in her hand continued to glow, and she reached the end of the hallway, where there is a circular staircase that leads to the main room, which is probably the living room to Stephanie's ideas.

She cautiously walked down the circular staircase while still carrying her glowing jar to the living room and when she entered, the living room was empty, all except the musty smell of the red fabric with gold trimming couches and chairs, and in the middle of the room was an enormous pine tree that reaches up to the top of the living room roof with varieties of different delightful ornaments and candles in different spots that used to glow when lighten and to Stephanie, it was yet beautiful even though it was left alone for many, many years. She sighed as she looked sadly at the pine tree and noticed the ground was wooden planks that are maple and she realized that if these people were rich, then that must mean their floor must've been cleaned, but the ground wasn't. So, she looked back at the tree and took two steps forward, until she stopped when she noticed that the ground underneath the pine tree, that grew roots underneath the woody plant and grew through the roof of the old house, is covered in old-fashioned wrapping paper and boxes scattered all over the place. Must've been the family's last Christmas in this home. She walked over to the wrapping paper and sat knelt down on one knee and placed the glowing jar down right beside her and gently moved the paper away to see what else is underneath the tree when she stopped at an unopened box that has a card on it. The wrapping of the gift is a light red color with a gold bow in the front. Between the two corners of the right side of the bow, is a piece of paper.

Stephanie felt suspicious about the strange unopened box, so she gently took the card from the box and opened the card. Inside was ancient cursive handwriting and the writing said, "Please, take care of this wonderful nutcracker. And hurry, we need-" the message was cut off and Stephanie felt confused. "Need" what? So, she was going to reach underneath the tree and take the box from underneath, when there were loud grinding noises that echoed through the rooms, and making Stephanie grit her teeth and wince in pain, squeezing her eyes shut, imagining her long clawed silver metallic fingernails on her right hand, scratching over a chalkboard back at her old school in the old-fashioned schools that she visited. Stephanie popped open her eyes and frantically looked at her surroundings, in wonder of what was that noise, and thinking it was a hook from the Hook Man from the previous adventure that he went with, until she heard louder grinding noises from a different room, so she decided to figure out what was that noise and leave the present there for later. So, she placed the present back down on the ground and got up from the ground and picked up her jar and she walked down the living room, to search for the strange annoying grinding noises. She turned around the corner to another room and wandered through the room and entered the second room, where there is a medium length counter in the middle that is honey that is covered with a red fabric table cover, with gold trimmings and it smelled musty from left over for many, many years.

She glanced to her left and saw a grandfather clock with mahogany wood structure and golden almost rusted clock face. The numbers on the clock were in Roman numbers, like the grandfather clocks at the clock stores back at her home she used to peek through the windows. For some reason, the time on the clock was stopped at 11:59, and the grinding noises were from the grandfather clock, trying to tick and move the arms of the clock. Stephanie got confused and gazed at the grandfather clock's face for a moment, until she used her left eye to invisible scan it, to check what was grinding inside. Apparently, the gears inside were rusted since the years have passed and 'Maybe this clock needs some fixing for a moment.' Stephanie thought to herself. She gently set her jar of glowing liquid down right next to the table right next to the clock and cracked her knuckles. Being careful as she is, she gently reached over to the clock's face, until she realized she needed opening the clock by using a key. So, with her metal eye, she scanned the keyhole and matched the door key that fits the hole in her diagram in her eye, and raised her first finger from her right hand, up to her face, which is her metal hand and her first finger transformed into the key that she copied and she put the copied key inside the keyhole and gently twisted her hand right so that she wouldn't mess this up and she heard a click. That means that the clock is opened. She gently trailed her finger out of the keyhole and it transformed back into her normal first finger and opened the clock's face and her scan was right, the gears in the inside were rusty from the past years and it was still ticking, but the clock arms were not moving because one of the rusty gears was rusted in the back, the sides, and the middle.

So, she left up her left hand and using her Devil Fruit powers, she turned her left hand into an oil like color and carefully reached back inside the clock and with two drops of grease, dripping from her first finger of her left hand, she dropped the drips on the rusty gears and the rust on the gears disappeared slowly and the gears started to move slowly. She slowly and carefully pulled her hand back out, and she reached into her pocket with her right hand and pulled out a small handkerchief and her left hand turned back into her normal skin color and no more oil was dripping from her arm. She slowly reached back inside the grandfather clock's face and gently wiped the gear's rust away, revealing the silver shine from them, and also noticed that one of the gears is out of place, so, she gently pushed the gear back into place and gently and slowly pulled her right hand out of the grandfather's face and she gently closed the clock and noticed a wind up switch. So, she knelt down to her knees and gently grasped the switch and slowly and carefully, trying not to break the clock, started winding up the clock, until the clock arms were moving again. She smiled gently as she watched the clock arms moved again, until the main one that is moving reached the top, the clock gonged 12:00. She jolted in startlement from the sudden gong and jolted backward with a startled yelp in fear, and the grandfather clock gonged three times in a row, after each gong. Then the gonging stopped, and Stephanie sighed, in both relief and annoyance from her sudden jolt until she heard a pair of soft pittering feet from someone or something from inside a different room… She felt suspicious of the strange, mysterious footsteps, so she gently closed the newly repaired clock's face and with her metal first finger, she transformed it back into the same key and locked the grandfather clock back up. After that, she picked back up the glowing jar right beside the clock and followed the sound that came from. She heard it again and this time, it was from a different room, then the room she was inside. She went into the different room and noticed that this room was medium sized than the living room that she entered before.

Inside the room, is old dull blue wallpaper that is rotten from all of the years that have passed from the missing family, old worn out shelves that were used in many years, a bed like couch in the middle of the room, old candles in various places, and a window at the back, that is dark outside and frost covering the window too. But the most furniture that sticks out from the other pieces of furniture is a wooden framed cabinet with dusty glass windows with twin silver decorated knobs in the middle, almost touching each other, making it looks like it is heart shaped. Since the time passed by, the silver on the knobs faded away and the wood looked old and can crack easily from her strength, so, she walked over to the wooden cabinet and gazed at the cabinet for a moment, before carefully as she can, she twisted the knobs of the glass cabinet and opened the door, noticing that there is nothing inside, except a book and another heart-shaped necklace, except the chain that holds the pendant is gold than metallic silver like Stephanie's. Curious, she took the book off the cabinet along with the necklace and noticed the book was covered in dust, so, she placed the necklace into her right pocket and after she placed the necklace inside, she blew the powdery dirt and gently wiped the cover and noticed the book was an ancient book that said, "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King." She smiled in happiness because when she was a little girl, she used to read the book over and over, without putting it down on the counter nor the bookcase. Now, is the time to read a favorite Christmas book from her old times. She glanced at her surroundings and realized the furniture that she noticed looked old and worn out, and if she sits on one of them, she would break them. So, she instead sat down on the ground, in front of the cabinet and opened the book to the first chapter.

"It was Christmas Eve in the Stahlbaum house." Stephanie read out loud to herself. "Marie, a seven-year-old girl, and her brother Fritz, an eight-year-old boy was waiting outside of a parlor speculating, wondering what type of gifts their godfather, Drosselmeyer is making for them. Then, they are at last let inside the parlor and were amazed and in awe of the presents that Drosselmeyer made. Then, Drosselmeyer presented a clockwork castle that he made, and Marie noticed a nutcracker. Curious about the Nutcracker, she asked of who the nutcracker belongs to and Marie's father told her the nutcracker belongs to everyone. But, since she became so fond of the Nutcracker, the nutcracker belongs to her because of how special the Nutcracker is to her. Soon, she, Fritz, and their sister, Louise, carefully passed the nutcracker among them, cracking nuts to eat the treats inside, until Fritz tries to crack one that is too big and hard and the nutcracker's jaw breaks. Marie upset that her nutcracker is broken, takes him away and bandages him with a ribbon from her dress." Stephanie read until she stopped at the second page, confused about why the pages stopped in the middle of the tale. She flipped the second page of the story and noticed the pages of the story were ripped, like if, someone has torn them in frustration. She trailed her first finger of her right hand over the ripped pages, wondering who ripped them until she heard, ripping, like paper and she glanced that the book, thinking she hears what had happened back before she came here. But, the ripping noises, sounded like they were here in the main room.

She glanced up from the book and with her magic, she teleported the book in a safe place for her to appear it again and carefully listened for more of the ripping paper. But no more of the ripping noises. She sighed and felt the pocket where the necklace is, so, she reached into the pocket where the necklace is and pulled it out in front of her face, noticing how it is still gold like almost all of the gold medals around the house and smooth too. She gently trailed her thumb over the necklace in thought, until she heard a soft _click._ She gasped and the pendant opened, revealing two pictures inside. The first picture is a young girl with long orange hair, that is down to the middle of her back, beautiful light hazelnut brown eye color, and fair smooth skin color. She is perhaps wearing a purple night dress or a usual attire because the bottom half of the picture is cut off from the photo. On the right, side of the pendant is a young man, with light wooden skin color, except not darker, handsomely golden eye color, black spiked hair that sticks out from the left side of his head, some strands stick up and some sticks up from behind his head. He looks like he is wearing a cherry red suit, but, like the female's picture on the left, it was cut off. She gazed at the picture for a moment, before sighing. She reached into her pajama top shirt with her left hand and pulled out her pendant and opened the pendant open, revealing her younger than what she looks like, except without the biconical metallic parts and a young man on the other side of the picture. She gazed at the picture of the young man for a moment, with sadness and loneliness in her eyes, before closing the pendant with a soft _click_ and kissed the pendant. She placed the pendant back into her shirt and gently closed the pendant in her hand with a soft _click_ and placed the pendant into her pocket and focused on more of the ripping. Instead of more ripping paper, she instead heard more of the soft pattering feet. She walked over to where she heard the ripping from and noticed that there is wrapping paper on the ground. She knelt down on her knees and bent over to see what had happened underneath, but, to her utter shock and fear, _the present is ripped open and the gift inside is gone_.


	2. The Nutcracker

Stephanie clenched her teeth in worriment. The gift that was underneath the tree, has been ripped open by an unknown creature that she didn't notice when she was inside the room and the present inside is missing. 'Stephanie, you stupid idiot! You're supposed to unwrap the present, not to wander around clueless!' she scolded to herself. 'Anyways, where is the present?' She stood up from the ground and looked over her left shoulder, wondering if she should look over there, then, glanced over to her right and glanced back to the ripped present. She thought to herself and walked over to the right side and looked from the cabinets, drawers, and behind the furniture, being extremely careful of accidentally destroying the fittings. 'Now...Where would a person hide a present that is a doll, somewhere that I can't see the doll?' She thought to herself. She heard soft footsteps again and she glanced over her left shoulder and no one is there. She glanced over her left shoulder and saw a blur of something red, running away from the spot that she came from and she felt confused. 'What was that red blur?' she thought to herself. 'Could it be perhaps Heatwave?' she thought to herself, as she quietly walked over to the spot where she saw the red blur. 'But how did Heatwave shrink at that size? Unless it might be someone else that is a borrower?' she continued thinking to herself as she carefully and quietly walked. Then, she heard soft grunting noises. 'A pig?' she thought to herself. She walked back into the living room, curious and confused about what is going on.

She thought to herself for a moment, before hearing a scraping noise from one of the door frames. She felt confused about the scraping sounds so; she walked over to where the scraping and noticed the scraping noises are from a door that she came from earlier. She heard more scraping noises and pieces of old wood fell from the top of the door frame and Stephanie noticed the wood splinters dropping from the top of the door frame and felt curious. She looked up and saw a doll, that is a nutcracker with wood "skin" complexion and gold eye color, cherry red painted "shirt" with a crown like symbol on the left side of his chest with a small triangle at the bottom, a painted green "shirt" underneath the cherry red "shirt", a painted "tie" around his neck and on his chest, a black belt around his waist, with a silver buckle, a black waist band around his waist, over his waistband and the corners of his "shirt" poking at the base of the waistline band around his waist with gold trimmings, gold shoulder pads, and long sleeves with a white stripe around his forearm, and a yellow and green line at his wrists, and snowy gloved hands. He also has white painted "pants", with boots that are up to his knees with yellow trimmings at the top and white painted shoes. Right on his left side is a sword with a yellow handle with a black handle in the middle, and in a black sheath with a green trim at the top of the entrance. On top of his head is a cherry red painted hat with a gold eagle like a badge with a small feather ornament on top and on his back is a small red leaver hidden within the paint.

He was trying to climb back up on the top of the door frame but kept slipping and making small splinters of wood fall on the ground. She noticed he was going to fall down to the ground anytime soon, therefore, quickly as she can, she cupped both of her hands together to catch him in case if he falls and just in time, he slipped, giving out a startled yelp and headed back first towards the ground, before turning over to his front and Stephanie was not underneath him with her hands, so, he instead collided with her face, gripping her hair with his hands and she gave out a muffed yelp in startlement and stepped backwards, before tripping over something and landed butt first on a pinecone on the ground. She didn't experience the pain that went through her body because she couldn't feel the pain at all. But, she can feel the pinecone on her bottom. She slowly reached up to him and gently wrapped her fingers around his waist, softly pulling him off and he released her hair and she gently set him down on the ground, while he is shocked to see her with bionic parts. She stood up to her feet and glanced over her shoulder, to see the pinecone on the ground. 'Yikes, that's going to hurt…' she thought to herself, as gingerly she rubbed her bottom imagining the pain if she does have them. She slightly knelt down to her knees and moved the pinecone out of the way, so that she can talk to him and sit more comfortably than the last time. After she had moved the pinecone, she sat down gingerly on the ground in front of the doll and placed her hands in front of her.

"Uh…" Stephanie started but trailed off glancing at her side, trying to find her words to talk to him. "Who are you?" a voice instead asked her. She glanced back at the doll, and she smiled softly. "My name is Stephanie Nova Rose Allen, and I'm a human like you, my friend," she replied gently, bowing down slightly to his manners. He was shocked to hear that from her, but, he slightly nodded his head and replied, "My name is Drosselmeyer Hans." Stephanie chuckled, and he reached up to his head, to touch the hat until he realized the hat was gone. He glanced around in wonder of where is the hat. "Where did my hat go?" he murmured in wonder. Stephanie gently chuckled and noticed his hat right next to her side, luckily not damaged from her enormous size and she carefully picked up the hat with her right hand and put her hand into a fist, cupping over the hat and she reached over to him, with her hand and he noticed her hand, until she stopped in front of him and opened her hand, revealing his hat inside, in the middle of her palm, not damaged or broken. "Thank you." he thanked as he took his hat from her hand. "You're welcome, Hans," she replied back after he took his hat from her hand. Then, she got curious about how he is awake and how did he get inside the house. "Hey, Hans?" she replied, to get his attention, as he was putting his hat back on. After he put his hat on his head, he glanced back at Stephanie with an "hmm?"

"How didja get inside the house?" she asked. He was confused for a minute, as he placed his right hand on his sword, tapping his finger on it, as his left hand was scratching the left temple as a thinking process. "I honestly don't remember, Stephanie. The only memory I remember is me and Clara about to be married until something appeared before our kiss and I blacked out," he answered, after a moment of thinking. Stephanie "hmmed" for a moment, as she thought, placing her right hand on her chin and her left hand underneath her right shoulder, as a thinking pose. After a moment of thinking, she noticed the house and she glanced back at the still thinking Hans. She reached over to him with her right hand and gently scooped him into her palm, as he gave out a startled yelp and she slowly lifted him up to her chest, and she stood up to her feet, as she placed her left hand on the ground and fully stood up. "Hans, have you been inside this house before?" she asked after she had stood up. He glanced at his surroundings and noticed the house. "T-This is where Clara used to live…" he gasped. Stephanie felt a twinge of sorrow for him, so, she gently placed him on her left shoulder and noticed how dark is inside the room. "Dang it. I left my glow jar back at the Christmas tree," she replied. "What is a glowing jar?" Hans asked in curiosity. "You'll see," she replied back.

She slowly and carefully walked back to the spot where she found the gift and noticed the jar right next to the gift have faded. "I'm gunna knelt down, so, hold onto some of my wires or my clothin' to stay put," she warned. He nodded his head and she lifted her left hand up, to support him from falling off her shoulder and he gently grabbed her first finger and middle finger as she bent down, picking up her glow jar with her right hand. After she had lifted up the jar, she stood back up and Hans released her fingers on her left hand and she removed her left hand away from her shoulder where Hans is and placed her left hand on the jar. She gently shook the jar and the water inside the jar glowed again, revealing a white shine. "See? This is a glowing jar," she replied. Hans was interested that the water inside glowed, but, Stephanie felt curious about what else is inside the house. "Hans, beside Clara, who else lived here?" she asked. Hans thought for a moment, before replying, "Clara's parents lived here along with her until they disappeared along with Clara." She sighed for a moment before noticing a mouse hole and she got curious. "Hans, another question; have you fought mice before?" she asked. He glanced up at Stephanie in confusion and noticed where she is looking at and felt confused. "I had before, but why you ask?" he questioned. "What if the mice came here before and used magic on them to shrink them to their size and kidnapped them?" she asked. Hans gasped in shock. "Then, the Mouse King might be alive still…" he replied.

"'Mouse King?'" Stephanie repeated in confusion. Then, she remembers the book, so, she snapped her fingers on her left hand and the book appeared and she caught the book with her left hand and gently opened the book with both of her hands. She flipped over to the second page and trailed her right first finger over the ripped pages and mumbled, " _When it is time for bed, the children put their Christmas gifts away in the special cabinet where they keep their toys. Fritz and Louise go up to bed, but Marie begs to be allowed to stay with the Nutcracker a while longer, and she is allowed to do so. She puts him to bed and tells him that Drosselmeier will fix his jaw as good as new. At this, his face seems momentary to come alive, and Marie is frightened, but she then decides it was only her imagination. The grandfather clock begins to chime, and Marie believes she sees Drosselmeier sitting on top of it, preventing it from striking. Mice begin coming out from underneath the floorboards, including the seven-headed Mouse King. The dolls in the toy cabinet come alive and begin to move, the Nutcracker taking command and leading them into battle after putting Marie's ribbon on as a token. The battle goes to the dolls at first, but they are eventually overwhelmed by the mice. Marie, seeing the Nutcracker about to be taken prisoner, takes off her slipper and throws it at the Mouse King. She then faints into the toy cabinet's glass door, cutting her arm badly._ " Hans was curious she said that and she gasped. "Oh my gosh! You're the Nutcracker." she stopped and turned to him. "No offense." "None taken," he replied back gladly that she isn't using as a taunt. "And Clara is your love and the Mouse King is the villain." she finished. She reached into her right pocket and pulled out the heart-shaped pendant and lifted it up to her face. "That is Clara's necklace!" Hans cried out. "I know, I found it with the book in the toy cabinet," she answered.

"That is where I first met Clara," he replied. Stephanie thought for a moment until heard more rustling and she glanced at a large box that appeared out of the middle of nowhere and she felt curious, but alert about what's inside. She reached over to Hans with both of her hands and picked up Hans from her shoulder and placed him on a small table. "Best if ya stay there, Hans," she said, cautiously. She slowly walked over to the box, as it ruffled and she grabbed the lid and took it off, to be startled by something springing out, startling her almost to death. "Ahh!" She yelped. "Shiitake mushrooms!" She stepped back as a jack in a box landed in front of her and looked up at her. "Hello!" he greeted. Stephanie was quiet for a moment, before replying, "Hi." He hopped away, and a stuffed bear was having troubles to get out of the box, so, Stephanie, with a soft spot for stuffed animals reached over to the bear and gently picked him up from the box and set him down on the ground. "There you go, little one," she replied gently. Then, she took out all of the toys and was shocked to see this many toys. "Uh, Hans? Did any of your family relatives created them?" she asked. "Yes, Uncle Drosselmeyer created them for the children," he replied. "Oh, so your Uncle is an inventor!" she exclaimed in interest. He nodded his head and she chuckled. Then, she felt something tugging her pant leg and looked down, to see a China-like mannequin doll, with white skin color, long midnight black hair down to the middle of her back, and emerald green eye color. She is wearing a light sky blue nightgown-like dress and black slippers.

"Hi there," she replied gently, as she carefully knelt down. She looked up and to Stephanie's shock, she has a crack from her left eye, down to her cheek. "Aw, you poor girl." she softly dismayed. "Here, let me help you." She placed her left hand down on the ground for her to climb on and she stepped onto her palm and sat down, as her dress was out slightly like a curtain and she carefully and slowly picked her up from the ground and up to her face, at her full height. She noticed the crack and gently whispered, " _Ila._ " Then, the crack on her face disappear like magic and she gently touched the spot where it was and smiled. "Thank you so much, my friend!" she thanked, as she gently hugged Stephanie's thumb. "You're very welcomed, little one," she replied gently. "Here, best if you were on the same table that Hans is on." She carefully walked over to the table where Hans is and set her palm down and being the gentleman he is, Hans helped her to get off Stephanie's palm and onto the table. After she placed her on the table and gently chuckled and said, "My name is Stephanie Nova Rose Allen, yours, little one?" She smiled brightly and said, "My name is Marie!" She chuckled gently until scraping noises came from the hole in the wall. Stephanie glanced over her shoulder and Hans glanced at the hole for a moment, as Marie hid behind Hans, in a protective way. Stephanie used her sent and took two whiffs and she replied, "Mice."


	3. Attack Of The Mice

The dolls gasped in shock and Hans immediately pulled out his sword from his slit, as Marie hid behind him as a protection bodyguard. Stephanie kept gazing at the hole with concern and curiosity. Then, all of the sudden, a grey mouse, standing on its hind legs came out of the hole and the rodent is wearing an armor-like suit on its chest and a helmet on top of the head. It noticed Hans, standing on the small table, looking bold and stern, as he wields his sword in his hand, without moving any of his body parts. "NUTCRACKER!" the mouse screeched, as it pointed at him with a clawed finger. 'Uh-oh.' Stephanie thought as she glanced at him, now with an anxious look on her face. Then, all of the sudden, many other rodents wearing the same suits, except in different sizes appeared of the mouse hole, and out from the chimney, in other places, and including the rotten floorboards. Stephanie winced when mice appeared out of the middle of nowhere, carrying spears in their arms. Stephanie glanced at the toys for a moment, before noticing something odd about the mirror. 'What the juice?' she thought to herself in confusion. A strange man appeared in the mirror and he has grey skin color and weary, old, but kind gold eye colors. His dark grey curly hair reaches down to his chin and neck. He is wearing an eggplant colored suit, with two rows of 10 gold buttons that reaches down to the bottom of his outfit. He is also wearing tight and shoved linen pants into his knee-length midnight black boots with buckles on his ankles, and too wearing a light purple undershirt with ruffled sleeves that pokes out of the purple suit, elbow length midnight black gloves, and a light purple neckwear around his neck, with a gold clip on it.

Across his right eye is a black triangular eye patch with smooth corners, and over his suit is a peanut feathered coat with pointed ends from the top of the overcoat, with brown tips, and bits of brown at the bottom of the coat, and the clip that clips the coat, is a watch like pocket watch. In his right hand is a wooden crooked cane with a hand-sized crystal ball on top. "Well, well, it have been a long time, since I have seen you, Hans," he replied, in a gentle manner, smiling gently at Stephanie and the rest. "Uncle Drosselmeyer?" Hans whispered. "He's your Uncle?" Stephanie asked, gently, not rudely pointing at him. "Of course," he replied. "Here, this will help you along the way." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a dice and tossed it out of the mirror and each time the dice lands, a toy catapult appears and then, he rolled another dice and each time that dice lands, a toy soldier appears and the toy soldier is like the fighters with a red suit, a black hat and a wind up key behind their backs. "Interesting," Stephanie replied. "I'm afraid that is all I can do, for now, my nephew. I wish you good luck," he replied, before the image of Drosselmeyer disappears, leaving Stephanie, Hans, Marie and the dolls alone, along with the terrifying mice that are marching towards them. Stephanie was quiet for a moment, before smirking and said, "For their own gluttony, give them food for their needs." After she had said that, sausage links, potatoes, chicken, and much other food appeared behind the catapults. "Even though you can't beat them, why don't you feed them?"

The idea that Stephanie suggested gave the toys the plan and they collected the food that she made. Soon, they prepared the catapults and fired the food at the mice, which is overcome by gluttony and hurriedly started to eat the food. This is the time to escape. But, then, more mice appeared and the food ran out, so, Stephanie reached over to Hans and picked him up, along with Marie. "Hans, be very careful to not get yourself hurt, okay?" she warned, before gently setting him on the ground. "I'll keep Marie safe with me." He looked over his shoulder at Stephanie and nodded his head and glanced back at the much bigger mice army and pulled out his sword again and yelled, "Charge!" Soon, all the toys charged at the rodents and attacked. She placed Marie on her shoulder and the mice headed towards her and she frowned and yelled, "Get away from us, rodents!" She lifted up her pants slightly and started stomping on them, as they scampered, trying to watch out as Stephanie stomped. Hans wielded his sword to attack and sliced some of the spear's heads so that Stephanie's metallic legs won't get pierced by the tips. She realized that more is coming so, she continued to stomp, being extremely careful to not accidentally stomp on any of the toys or Hans. She was backing up against a table and didn't notice that a hooded mouse was behind her, cackling softly to herself or himself. " _Meddling human towering tall, let my magic shrink you small._ " the mouse whispered to herself. She heard the whispers and was going to turn around, as her left hand was on the table, until a painful bite bit her left hand, on the side of her palm, and she gave out an "Ow!"

Hans heard her cries and immediately turned around to Stephanie behind him as she has her left hand in her right hand wincing in pain and in confusion as a bite mark was on the side of her palm. _In a shape of a mice's bite mark._ Horror spread across Hans' face as a drop of black blood dripped from Stephanie's hand. Then, she started to shrink and Stephanie looked both confused and scared. Soon, she placed Marie in her arms because her shoulder is getting too small for her to stay on and was the size of a mouse. "Oh, fridge me." She cursed. The mice got closer to Stephanie and the leader of the rodents, who is huger than the rest, came out of the hole and noticed Stephanie. He took two steps towards her and Marie whimpered a bit, as Stephanie stand her ground, frowning at the mouse. "Such a shame to kill such a beautiful face." He purred. "Such a shame that you can't get a girlfriend with an ugly face likes yours." she burned. The mice started laughing at him, as the leader was unhappy. He snarled, baring his sharp teeth and charged right after her and she jumped, just in time for him to collide face first into the table's leg and knocked himself out. She flew through the air and landed feet first on the ground, right beside Hans, who looked shocked and Marie is safe and sound on her back, without any of her body parts broken from the landing. After she had landed, the mice gasped at the knocked out leader and ran over to him, picked him up from underneath and retreated back into the hole in the wall, leaving the now shrunken Stephanie, Hans, Marie, and the rest of the dolls alone. Stephanie sighed in relief and gently placed Marie back down on the ground and looked at the wound on her hand. "Well, that went well." she sarcastically remarked.

Hans sighed in annoyance and sheathed his sword back into his scabbard and calmly replied, "Let me see your hand." She nodded her head and held out her left hand and Hans examine her bite mark. The bite mark was like a rational mouse's bite mark, except to Stephanie, it feels real, painful than all of her nervous systems were gone during the process of the experimenting. "It only a little, Hans." She finally replied as Hans looked at the wound. "It does?" he asked. "Yes, it does," she replied. "The wound is only small, so, you are perfectly fine, Stephanie." He replied calmly. "I know, I'm not a big baby 'bout it," she replied back, calmly as she gently pulled her left hand away from Hans. "Anyways, we have two spells to break, but, we have to figure out to get to your world before somethin' else happens to us." He nods his head and glanced around the room, thinking about how they came into his world before he met Stephanie. Stephanie noticed a make shifted palace on top of a dresser and got curious about the castle. The castle was like a real castle in the ancient periods, even at this time, except the castle is a mechanical castle, with gears inside that, are rusted from all of the years have passed and all the colors were worn out. "Hey, Hans?" Stephanie called, bringing Hans out of his thinking process. "Yes?" he answered. He walked over to where she is and noticed where she was gazing at and saw the place on top of the dresser. "If I remember correctly, in the story of the Nutcracker, the other Clara and Hans go into that palace and entered the Doll Kingdom, by magic," she explained.

Hans recalled the memory of the two of them going into the castle and gasped in shock. "Of course, all we have to do is to climb to the top of the dresser and enter the place!" he explained. "Up there?" Stephanie questioned, as she pointed up to the top of the dresser with her right hand. He nods his head and Stephanie shrugged her shoulders. "Okay, but, I'm carryin' Marie since she's with us," she remarked. "Are you going to fall off the dresser when you climb?" he asked, sounding a bit concerned and worried. "It's no problem. I got it," she replied. He nods his head again and walked over to the dresser, as Stephanie positioned Marie on her back so that she won't fall off and choke her to death. "There, comfortable?" she asked. "Y-Yes, I'm fine," she replied, stammering a bit. "Great! Let's get to climbin' then!" she replied. Hans was the first one to climb, as Stephanie and Marie were on the land, gazing at him climb up, slowly and carefully, being careful to not accidentally fall and hit the two of them on the ground, since they are watching him, and when he got to the top of the dresser, he hauled himself up and glanced over the rim. "It is your turn now!" he called after her. Stephanie nods her head and placed her right metallic hand on the dresser, gripping the lip and the left on the other edge above the first one. She lifted herself up and started climbing up to the top of the dresser, as Hans was watching over the edge, with his right hand on his hat so that it won't fall off and eyeing them so that they won't fall off on accident.

When Stephanie got to the top, she was going to hoist herself up, when she said, "Take Marie off first, okay Hans? I'll hoist myself up after you take her from me." He nods his head and carefully took Marie off her back and onto the dresser and Stephanie lifted herself upwards after Hans moved out of the way for her to climb and she tumbled onto the dresser, panting slightly. "What a workout I got after a couple of days on the couch, bein' a lazy bum to my..." she drifted off before she could finish, looking sad and distant. "What's wrong?" Hans asked after he had placed Marie on the dresser. "I-It's nothin'," she replied, as she got up to her feet. Hans was going to ask her the same question again, but, felt he might push it too far, and it just went quiet. "Anyways, let's stick with the subject, and that is to get into the castle," she replied, as she faced the now enormous castle, standing in front of them.


End file.
